Its that time of year in Nebraska where there's too much ice to fish and not enough ice to ice fish, leaving anglers like myself going stir crazy in the garage looking at our toys. I like to spend this time reorganizing tackle boxes, oiling reels, replacing worn hooks on crankbaits and etc. So I was just wondering if any of you guys had any maintenance tips or tricks that work well for you?

When I'm putting new line on a reel, or if you have to strip your reel to retie line around the spool (common problem using braided on a spinning reel) a technique I use is to take a screwdriver, insert the head into my drill, then tie the line to the screwdriver. Open the bail/release on your reel, then simply "drill" the line in around the screwdriver. *Note, remove the line from your guides so its coming straight off the reel and not having to travel through all the guides. If I'm taking the line off with the intent not to put it back on, if its still in relatively good shape and could be used for leaders, or heavier line sections for trotlines, I use the same technique only attach an empty toilet paper tube over the handle of the screwdriver with a few small pieces of duct tape to hold it in place. Then when finished, use a sharpie to mark the tube with what #, brand of line, and how old it is.

Anyone else have anything clever to contribute?

I have had some lures with me since the early 1970s to the mid 1980s that I had never caught fish on. After reading several articles and tips from our magazine and the books I ordered from the club I started paying much closer attention to the "smaller" details. I switched out stock hooks and split rings for better quality hooks and split rings and cleaned up my lures. I always kept my equipment pretty clean but I started going at it like a cleaning nut housewife during Spring cleaning. No offense to the ladies, I mean I did a white glove passing inspection type of cleaning on my equipment. I had one old lure an old fishing buddy gave me many moons ago. I had painted the belly and bottom of the bill with International Orange spray paint trying to make it more attractive to fish during pike fishing on cold, cloudy, overcast days. I thought it was a Rebel or some Brand X lures. After I cleaned it up I found out it was a rare, out of production since 1952, original Rapala lure in the Chartruse Silver Florescent finish. I took that lure along with all of my newly refurbished 30 and 20+ year old lures on my next fishing trip to Canada. When my cousin and fishing buddy found out the story on the rare Rapala he would not let me fish it. He knew it was worth $500 at least. All week long he kept an eye on me and watched all the lures I tied on to my line. I was chomping at the bit to give the old boy a try. After all, all the old lures I had never caught anything on were now catching fish left and right. I knew the lures color was just what I needed to really show my stuff. I'd always done well with that color. The last day of our trip I snuck the lure into my jacket pocket with every intention of slinging it out there. My cousin was sitting in front of me so I quietly slipped the lure out of my pocket and tied it onto my favorite spinning outfit. Just as I was about to cast he turned around and saw what I had on my line. He said, "you going to use that piece of history?" I said I haven't made any memories with it yet and cast out. As soon as the lure landed a nice bass blew up on it. I caught 4 fish that day on it, all nice bass. I put it away and used something else until it was time to go. Last year I caught 6 bass on 6 cast before I put it away. My brother was in the boat with me and he was catching pike and getting bit off so I did not want to push my luck. I switched lures, caught a few fish and then sure enough, a pike bit me off. Altogether I lost about 4 lures that day but my rare Rapala was safely tucked away for another day.